DETROIT -- After 22 years in the Army National Guard, Lt. Col. Scott Doolittle has grown used to leaving home.

But that did not dampen his elation Friday, when he was welcomed back in suburban Detroit by his wife, Tammi, and their two young children, Nathan, 8, and Colin, 2.

"It's wonderful. It's incredible right now," said Doolittle, 40, a sergeant with the Grand Rapids Police Department in civilian life.

Doolittle was among approximately 100 members of the Taylor-based 177th Military Police Brigade to arrive home after a 12-month activation, including eight to 11 months in Iraq. Members of the unit worked at prison facilities in Baghdad and elsewhere, with duties that included rehabilitation of prisoners and development of an Iraqi corrections officer training academy.

Doolittle was assigned to a prison facility at Camp Victory that held about 4,500 detainees at its peak. According to Doolittle, it held a mixture of Shiite and Sunni prisoners, foreign fighters and juveniles.

Prisoner portfolios

The prisoners ranged from extremists willing to use any kind of violence to teenagers who would take up arms simply for money.

Gazette News ServiceLt. Col. Scott Doolittle hugs his wife and son Friday in Detroit after returning from service in Iraq.

"We had some of the bad of the bad. You had the extremists that no matter how you tried to train them, they aren't going to move.

"Some of the juveniles, they are easily swayed. It's easy for these kids to join a gang or a club and fight for something they don't necessarily believe in."

As wife to a longtime member of the Guard, Tammi Doolittle has learned to accept the rhythms of departure, absence and return.

"It feels great to have him home. We miss him when he's gone, but there's a job to be done. When it's your turn to go, you go. You kind of learn to roll with the punches."

To Sgt. Zachary Potter, 26, of Plainfield Township, homecoming meant a chance to meet his infant niece, born while he was in Iraq.

It was his second tour of Iraq, the first in 2005 when he was assigned to military police duty in Sadr City.

Potter said he sees progress in Iraq, but not enough, in his view, to justify an immediate pullout of U.S. troops.

Slow progress

"There's a long ways to go before the country can stand on its own. I think if we start pulling out, the Iraqi government would stand up more, but I don't think we can just pull out."

Potter, who graduated from Ferris State University the day his unit left for training, is in the job market with a degree in corporate health and wellness.

A six-year veteran of the Guard, Potter signed up for another six years while he was on his way to Iraq. He got a $15,000 tax-free bonus for doing so -- but said the money was not the prime motivation.

"My family thinks I'm crazy," he said. "But somebody has got to serve. I wouldn't volunteer just for the money. I've got a college degree. There is plenty of other stuff I could do."